Hearing Nothing
by Lizzy '-' rocks
Summary: Most people take noise for granted- The sound of voices or music, the rustling of leaves. Well, not me. You know why? I'm deaf, and I have been for almost two years. Then one day, I was assigned a tutor- Len. After that, things got... complicated, to say the least. Maybe things aren't as hopeless as I thought? Eventual RinXLen
1. Hearing Nothing

A/N- Yay, a new story :) Um... *Thinks of something brilliant to introduce the story with* This was inspired by a plot bunny. So I decided to write it. That's really about it.

**E/N- No, it's not! What about me?**

A/N- Right. And my editor, Moonflower121, is here and being awesome and editing and making my awesome story even more awesome~ :)

**E/N- Enjoy the story! It's awesome!**

****A/N- ...Sure. (*_*)

Rin is deaf in this one, so things she 'hears by reading lips "_Are in italics in quotation marks"_ Normal speech is just... "Formatted as normal speech". Anything written down_ Is in italics_ and other random words with emphasis put on the are _also _in _italics._

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Chapter One- Hearing Nothing

The teacher scribbled something onto the board in chalk. I could see it written there, but I couldn't hear her explanation of the problem. Not the conversations that were probably going on all around me (I could see their lips moving). Nothing. I could imagine how they _probably_ sound, how they _should_ sound, but the noises stop somewhere between the outside world and mymind. I'm technically deaf, except that sometimes I think I can, maybe, hear something that sounds vaguely like... Noise. Static, a crowd screaming, useless and unidentifiable noise. Or maybe it's just my imagination. _Stupid Rin. _

I pulled my fingers through my short, tangled blonde hair and copied down what the teacher wrote on the board, but as I couldn't hear a word she was saying, it seemed fairly pointless. I could usually read lips pretty well, but she was facing the board most of the time, either writing or erasing, so being able to read her lips isn't much help either.

"_Subtract... then you..._" That was all I could gather before the fast-talking woman turned back to the board to explain another example. I decided to just give up, it wasn't like I was making much headway with my education anyways, given my... interesting situation. I turned to look out the window, losing myself in thought as I stared blankly at the cherry-blossom tree just outside.

By the time my thoughts were drawn back to the present, I could sense the movement of everyone around me packing up their belongings, and I mutely followed suit. I put my mostly-blank page of notes back into my bag, and was just pushing my chair in when I felt someone tap my shoulder. I whirled around, finding no one there. I looked in the other direction, and saw a few girls standing there, about three. Not that I really cared how many there were. The girl in the front of the group, who had long, wavy teal hair in pigtails, was talking quickly, so I only caught bits and pieces of what she said.

"_... Stupid?... Can't you hear?... not normal... Freak."_ I looked down, knowing from what little I had understood that they weren't exactly complimenting me, and decided I didn't even want to _try_ to decipher what they were saying.

"Can't you just leave me alone?" I asked, carefully measuring the volume of words I couldn't hear myself speak. It's always hard to tell if I'm screaming or whispering.

"..._Wants us... leave alone."_ I could tell just from the girl's word choice that she was mocking me. It was nothing new, though. I was used to it, after nearly two years of not being able to hear. The girls left a few moments later, and I continued where I'd left off with my preparation to do the same. I was so lost in my own thoughts, I didn't even realize there was someone standing in the doorway until I bumped... right... into... him. I jumped back, and looked in front of me, moving my gaze upwards from the floor.

"I'm sorry..." I said, looking towards his mouth to see his reply.

"_No problem... Do you know where... find Rin Kagamine?" _ I pieced together the words to make out that he was looking for me. From what I could tell, at least.

"That's me, yeah." I assumed I'd pronounced something weird, because he looked at me questioningly. Well, it couldn't be helped sometimes- It was hard to remember what words were supposed to sound like, and how to make those sounds, after so long. "Is there a problem?" I asked after a moment, when I still received no reply.

"_No... Looking for you... Supposed to... New tutor?"_ Huh. I didn't know I was apparently going to have a tutor. And he only looked a year, maybe two, older than me. It then occurred to me that he was also wearing a school uniform, so of course he was only a little older, if he went to the school as well. _Really smart_.

"Why do I need a tutor, though?" The boy sighed. Or, Rin assumed he did. His chest rose and fell much slower and more exaggeratedly than a normal breath.

_"According... Teachers... Your grades... low, need help... Come to the library after school...Okay?" _I nodded, getting at least the general idea of his words. I didn't trust my voice any more, I could tell he already suspected there was something wrong with me, beyond just that I needed tutoring for my appallingly low grades.

"Ok. Well... I'm going to lunch now...I'll see you after school?" It was only after the boy walked away that I realized I hadn't asked for his name. Or maybe he'd told me and I just hadn't caught it...? Either way, I still had no idea who he was. I exited the classroom and made my way to the bench I sat at every day, welcoming the solitude that surrounded me.

I'd 'forgotten' my lunch (well, I'd "conveniently forgotten" it every day so far this school year), so I just sat and looked around, enjoying the wind in my hair. I wished I could hear the birds that were probably chirping, the wind, even things like the cars passing on a nearby road. Things you wouldn't thing anyone could miss, but somehow I do. I guess if I could hear them, even I wouldn't think it was a possibility to miss them.

After what seemed about a half-hour, I stood up from the bench I was sitting on, and started heading to my next class. I could tell I was a little early, but it was better to be early than to be late and have to try to explain myself to the teacher, and the whole class, and try to 'listen' to both the teacher scolding me and the students talking among themselves. I'd already been late to class to the point that if I was late again, I'd get sent to the principal, and get a note home... And a note home was almost as bad as assembling a firing squad for me. So I made sure I wasn't late.

I didn't even try to take notes in this class, history, because I had to either be writing or 'listening'- And I couldn't do both at once. So I tried listening. I made out maybe 1/3 of the words, but assumed I was misinterpreting most of them anyway, since I was pretty sure we weren't talking about laundry... I gave up after a while, and my eyes moved to my paper. I absently drew a butterfly on the corner of my blank paper, then a flower... Before I knew it, my paper was covered in doodles, I'd wasted another class period, and it was time for my last class of the day.

Throughout my entire lecture in history class, I was staring into space, thinking about the mysterious tutor I had been assigned. I mean, who would care enough about me to hire me help? A tutor must be expensive, and I don't know anyone willing to pay that much for my education. At least, no one at home.

I continued to wonder at the unexpected incident earlier. The bot seemed to mean well, but he had an air about him said "I am an upperclassman and you are not," but I could be mistaken. I often misinterpreted characteristics since my loss of hearing.

I was awoken out of my stupor by the sudden movement of a multitude of student bodies and backpacks. The bel had rung. Time for my tutoring session.

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A/N- Remember, reviews are author food! And I don't want to starve :)


	2. Len

A/N- Yay, chapter two :) Okay, so, I'm kinda shocked by how many reviews chapter one got. 6! That's the most I've ever gotten on any one chapter ever :D Thanks you guys~

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Chapter Two- Len

I made my way out of the classroom as quickly as I could, and trekked across campus, into the library. After peering around a few isles, I found a lone table in a remote corner of the library, an easily recognizable blonde boy perched on a chair. from. I made my way over, and took a seat next to him.

"_Rin... was your day?" _I could piece two and two together to figure out he wanted to know how my day had gone.

"Pretty good... Classes were dull. Like normal. Sorry, what did you say your name was?"

"_Len_..._ Thought I told... Earlier."_

_"_Yeah, I guess I just forgot."Len reached over to grab his backpack, and replied to my comment while facing away. I caught none of what he said. I assumed he'd asked a question, though, because he looked at me expectantly.

"Um... I dunno." That was my standard answer to most things that were probably questions, if I didn't quite catch them. It made my deafness less obvious.

"_...Don't know who... Have... Math?"_ I was thoroughly confused. But I answered what the most likely question was, 'Who do you have for math?'

"I have Mr. Kamui, for Geometry." Apparently, I'd guessed correctly, as he didn't question my answer. He bent down to get a geometry workbook out of his backpack, and opened it to the first page.

"_... Review from... just.. see... you understand." _I started the problems silently, working my way through the first few without any problem. Then, by the third row, I'd gotten to the things we'd covered right after I'd become deaf, when I hadn't even been trying to keep up. I attempted one problem three times before he reached out and waved his hand in front of my face. I looked up, startled.

_"Rin, are you deaf?" _No need to figure it out, I knew exactly what he'd said that time. I looked at him with what I could only imagine was a deer-in-the-headlights expression. He was articulating carefully, so I had no problem understanding him,

"_You are, aren't you_?"

"Okay, yes, but... Shh! Don't tell anyone!" I could tell my voice had been louder than intended, because a few people at nearby tables looked over curiously. I made sure to be quieter and continued, "It's... sort of a secret." Len looked amazed.

_"How long...?_" I looked away from him and said softly,

"About two years, I think. A little less." Len's jaw dropped in surprise.

_"You... Deaf... Two years?"_ I couldn't understand much, maybe because he was only speaking scattered words, fragments of sentences which wouldn't make sense even if I _could_ hear him.

Len was still shaking his head slowly, looking as though he didn't know what to say (which was okay,I probably wouldn't be able to understand him anyways.) He opened his mouth, was if he wanted to say something, but his mouth didn't form any coherent words. He then held up one finger, the universal sign for wait one second, and pulled out a piece of paper. He wrote something on it, before sliding it across the table towards me. _So, you're saying, you've been deaf for_ two years_ and _nobody_ noticed? How have you been passing your classes?_

I gave him a look that said, 'Really? Did you just ask that?'

I picked up the pen. _I haven't been, smart one. That's why you're here, right?_Len's eyebrows crept together like a caterpillar. _Why haven't your parents moved you to a different school? There's schools for deaf kids, right? _I grabbed his pencil and paper, and wrote, _Because they don't know, either_.

Len's eyes got so wide I was worried that they might pop out of his head. _How do you keep something like that a secret?_ His handwriting was hard to make out, he had written so fast. I took a long time writing my reply, trying to figure out how to best phrase my situation._ Well.. my dad passed away a long time ago. My mom's usually drunk, so she hasn't really noticed, as long as I stay quiet about it. My older brother tries to help me, but he doesn't know exactly what's wrong, either. He just thinks I got a really bad concussion or brain trauma or something._ Len read the paper, then looked up at me quietly.

"_So... You don't have...best.. living situation?" _It took me a moment to figure out what he had said. It must have been, 'So, you don't have a good living situation?,' or something to that effect. I shook my head slowly, embarrassed.

"I guess not. But it's not too bad, because Rei's kind to me, and he tries to help me when he can. Even if he doesn't know what he's helping with." Len took a moment to process what I'd said. I suppose I hadn't enunciated enough, but that was hard when I'm forgetting what things were supposed to sound like. _Rei- That's your brother, right?_ Len wrote, apparently confused that I'd mentioned another name. I nodded.

"Yes. He's seventeen. He doesn't do the best in school either, but that's because he has to work from right after school until midnight most nights. Otherwise he's really, really smart!" Len looked a little startled, but I guess that made sense, because he seemed like the kind of person who had a normal, no-problems-at-all childhood.

"Rin... Know I just met you... when you need... I can help." I got the general idea of his sentence, and was touched by the offer. Because, even though I'd done an okay-ish job at pretending I could still hear, I was starting to slip up more than I would care to admit. Grabbing the paper again, I wrote, _Since_ _we aren't really getting a lot done here, maybe you could come over to my house for a while?_ I could feel my cheeks grow warm, though I wasn't quite sure why.

A few minutes later, Len and I were walking down the street in the direction of my house. I was lucky I lived close to the school because my mom never picks me up. She's usually passed out on the couch by the time I get home, and I hoped today was no different.

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A/N- Sorry if that was an awkward ending point, Moonflower121's probably going to kill me for ending it there. But anywhere else would have been too short or too long, and I thought this worked out okay.

And remember, reviews are author food- If you don't want me to starve, you'll feed me :)


	3. The Third Chapter

A/N- Holy Fudgemuffins :DDDDD I checked my traffic stats and it got up to almost 150 yesterday, which is _way_ more than my old record of like 56... And Reviews! Thank you all who reviewed or put this on favorite/ alerts!

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A little while later, we were standing on my front porch. (Why did the walk seem so much shorter today?) I unlocked the door, and let Len and myself inside. The house was dark as usual, and smelled like stale alcohol, dust, and food. (And a lot of other gross things I won't list to save your imagination from having to imagine it.) I made my way up to my room quickly, glad my mother wasn't anywhere in sight.

My room, I'm proud to say, is usually the cleanest place in the house. Not that it's _clean_ clean, since I don't think we even own a vacuum, but better than anywhere else. At least you didn't usually have to watch out for shards of glass on the ground. I pulled the quilt off of my bed (well, it's only a mattress on the ground with a battered quilt on top, really) shook it out hastily, before putting it back down on the bare mattress. I gestured for Len to sit down, and he did, if a bit hesitantly.

We sat in what I thought was silence for a moment, before I felt him tap my shoulder. He pulled out his notebook and a pen again, and wrote at the top of a fresh sheet of paper, _So, now what?_ I looked up at him and shrugged. _Tutoring?_ I wrote. I looked over to see his expression. He took back the pen and wrote, _I've never exactly tutored a deaf person before, so... I'm not really sure where to start. _I shrugged, trying to think of a response.

"You could just act like I'm not, you know. I've been doing that for a while now..." Len looked confused. _And how's that been working out for you? I'm here to try to _help_ you, not just to act as if I didn't know, like everyone else._

"But, as long as you look at me and talk slowly, I can read your lips. And you can write stuff down, too. Shouldn't be too bad, right?" I tried to smile like I really believed my words, like I actually thought I could function on a normal level with only a little help. Len clearly couldn't see my doubt, and thought I genuinely felt that way (but maybe it was just because I was so hard to understand anyway that a possible slight wavering in my vocal inflection didn't seem like much).

And so Len and I sat there, working on math that I think I should have learned last year, and I had to admit, it was actually... a little productive? Better than I ever could have done in class, certainly. We managed to get through a few different topics before Len pushed the note-covered paper in my direction, with _There's someone at your door!_ written across it in hastily-scribbled handwriting. I got up made my way to the entry hall, past all the piles of dirty clothes and old beer cans, pulled the door open, and there, in all her drunken glory, stood my mother.

"Hi, mom." I tried to sound innocent, like I didn't know what was probably about to- _OWW!_ The empty glass bottle had swung forward, hitting me in the side of the head with brutal force. That... Really hurt. I could feel something dripping down my head, but I had to tell myself, over and over, _It's just some that was left at the bottom of the bottle or something. It's not blood, it's not blood... _I saw her swing the broken bottle again, and I put up my arms in front of me as a feeble defense. But the impact never came..

I opened my eyes to see Len, math textbook in hand, in front of me. He was using it as a shield, and, had the situation been less dire, I might have made the comment that a 1000-plus page textbook would make a very substantial shield. I also might have asked why he had both our backpacks with him.. But I didn't. I was more than a little preoccupied with our current situation.

The bottle crashed into the book, splattering foul-scented alcohol against both of us. Len, apparently deciding the situation wasn't a good one to be caught in, knocked my mother out of the way and, grabbing my wrist, dragged me behind him- out of the house, down a few streets...

As it turned out, the sticky warm substance on my head _was_ blood, and we had to slow to a walk after less than a minute because I was starting to feel a light-headed.

_"You okay?" _Len's lips formed the words. I shook my head. No, I wasn't. Actually, my head felt dizzy and numb, but... So did the rest of me. My whole body was starting to feel heavy, and the last thing I saw was the sidewalk coming towards me at an alarming rate.

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A/N- Thank you so much for all the awesome sauce reviews already! But... Can we keep it up? How about 2 or 3 reviews before I update? I'm a not-so-starving author right now, but I still need author food ^^

**E/N- Also, if you're ever confused about something, you can review a question too, and Lizzy or me (Probably Lizzy) Will do our best to answer in a PM :)**


	4. Too Many Tears

A/N- Yay, new chapter ^^ Sorry it took me a while to upload this... But OMG, reviews! I have 13 reviews already! That's more than I have on my 13-chapter story :D You guys are awesome~

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What felt like eons later, although it was probably only an hour or two at most, I lifted my heavy lids. I looked around frantically, disoriented because my surroundings were entirely unfamiliar. I was laying on a bed, in _someone's _bedroom, _somewhere._ I could tell it was a boy's room, by the way everything looked hastily put away, and the dull white color of the walls. (Also, the sports posters were a dead giveaway.) I pushed the warm blankets off of me, and tried to stand up. I say I _tried_, because I didn't get very far at all. I suddenly felt dizzy, and had to lean back against the bed for support.

_What had happened...?_ I tried to look through my jumbled memories for anything that might have caused my _very _painful head injury._ Mom... bottle.. ..right. ..Len!_ I forced myself to shake off the rest of the fatigue, and set out to find Len. The house, I quickly discovered, wasn't very large (though significantly bigger than mine). It only took me about a few moments to find him, what with my stumbling and all, in the kitchen.

"Len..." I said, and my throat felt hoarse. I could only assume I sounded that way as well. Len whirled around, apparently startled by my presence. "S-sorry..." I took a half- step away from him, but he grabbed my wrist.

"_Why... Nobody know about... Could get help, you know."_ I pieced together the sentence, and shook my head. Nobody needed to know about my less-than-perfect living situation. I could deal with it on my own, just like I had for a long time. It was easier that way, me against the world, without having to rely on anybody.

"_I can help, you know."_ I shook my head again, my unvoiced argument still holding firmly. "_How about... Going to... No argument." _I cocked my head to the side, pointing to my ear. He grabbed a piece of paper and wrote out, '_How about, I'm _going_ to help you. No argument allowed.'_

*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*

Len pulled at my hand, clearly exasperated by my slow speed of walking. But really, I didn't want to go back home. I'd rather take a walk through the park or sit on a bench by the side of the road, which I'd actually done before. It was already getting dark out, I could just sleep outside. There were some really comfy benches near the playground. Something. But no, Len wasn't having it-from what I could tell, he was going to tell my brother about the fact that I was deaf. At least he didn't seem to have any intention of telling my mom-I'd lost enough blood on her behalf for one day already, thank you very much.

At first, I thought the walk back seemed longer, even though we were moving at a quick pace. Then, I remembered that I'd collapsed while we were going to his house. How he'd gotten me five blocks when he didn't seem particularly muscly was beyond me, but I didn't question it.

Much sooner than I would have liked, we were standing on my front porch for the second time that day. I tried the door and was surprised to find it unlocked, which was convenient since my key was still upstairs. Len followed me inside, more cautiously this time since it was even darker than before. The foul odor still lingered, but I was used to it. I made my way upstairs and down the hall, and stopped for a moment outside Rei's bedroom door before knocking in what I hoped was a quiet way.

Len nodded, which I assumed meant Rei had said I could come in. I pushed the door open, and he looked up from the homework that was spread across his bed. Wednesdays were his day off work, so he always tried to do as much school work as he possibly could then. He looked confused, and said something that I think was close to, _'Why are there two of you, Rinny?_' It took me a moment to figure out what he meant, before I noticed he was referring to the fact that Len and I looked so much alike.

"Um... Rei, can I talk to you? It's... kind of important..." I had an urge to look down at the carpet, but knew I couldn't if I wanted to see his reply.

"_Sure, what is it?"_ He moved so that he was sitting on the floor, and gestured for Len and I to join him. "_And what... your head?"_ I shook my head, I'd explain later.

"You know how a while ago, Mom messed up my ears pretty bad?" I rested one hand gently against a scar-covered ear. Rei nodded in encouragement.

_"And?_" He looked confused as to why I was bringing that subject up at the moment. There was a silent pact between us that we always acted like Mom's abuse didn't happen.

"Well... I..." I couldn't do it, I couldn't make myself form the words. I looked down, pulling at the carpet anxiously. I assumed he said something, because I felt his fingers gently tilt my head up. Not as though he was about to kiss me, or being forceful-it was simply to make sure I was looking at him.

"_Can you hear me?_" I could see tears gathering in his eyes, and he was fighting to keep them from falling. "_You can hear... Rin? Please? You... Hear me, right? It's... Joke?"_ I shook my head slowly. I assumed Len had told him while I was looking down, so I hadn't seen their exchange.

"No, I can't. I-I'm deaf, Rei."

The next thing I knew, his arms were around me, holding me tightly. I wasn't sure if he was saying anything, but I could tell by the way his whole body shook that he was crying. I could only sit there, my arms wrapped around him hesitantly, as he sobbed.

"It's okay..." I said, unsure if I was whispering or yelling. "I'm okay. Really..." I felt his hand stroke my hair gently, and I couldn't help the few tears that trailed down my own cheeks as well. After what felt like a hours, he pulled away from me, one hand resting on each of my shoulders, like he was examining me.

"_So... Really can't hear me?"_ I shook my head. He pushed the hair away from my ears, and looked carefully. One was visibly worse than the other, although I heard an equal amount of silence from both. They were laced with scars, from being beaten in the ears with the crushed end of a bottle repeatedly. I winced at the memory, and looked up slowly so that my eyes met his.

"I'm okay. Really, I am. I do okay at pretending, right? Even you didn't notice..." I knew the moment the words were out of my mouth that they were the wrong ones to say. Rei looked like he wanted to hug me and punch me at the same time. (I didn't really expect him to do the latter, but he looked so devastated that he might as well have.) Instead, he just sat and stared, wide-eyed.

"_...Should have told me, I... have helped you... Stupid."_ That was the second time in a day I'd been called stupid, but in entirely different situations. I didn't care about the gils at school, I'd stopped caring about that kind of thing a long time ago. But hearing it from my beloved brother was something entirely different.

I felt a light tap on my shoulder, and turned 'round to see Len holding out a piece of paper. He handed it to me, and I read it quickly. _I'll leave you guys here to talk things out, I guess. See you after school tomorrow._ I looked up and nodded, and watched as he left the room.

Instead of continuing my 'conversation' with Rei, I got up from where I was sitting on the floor, and walked to my room without saying another word. I know Rei pretty well, if I do say so myself, and he would probably just want to be left alone for a while.

*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*

When I reached my bedroom, I flopped face-first onto my bed. I felt like crying again, but it seemed like that would take too much energy... It really had been a long day. I rolled into a slightly more comfortable position (or at least one that didn't feel like it was going to make the gash on my head start bleeding again), and closed my eyes...

I wasn't sure when I fell asleep, but the next thing I was aware of was cracking my eyes open to see light streaming through the stained curtains on the window. _Great,_ I thought, _Another lovely day in the life of Rin._

I got up, got dressed, and was relieved to see that my mother was still asleep, presumably sleeping off however much alcohol she had consumed the night before. I was ready for school about twenty minutes later, and when Rei entered the kitchen, I was sitting at the table eating an orange. (My stomach was rather empty because I hadn't eaten anything since _breakfast,_ _yesterday_.) He didn't bother to say anything, just grabbed an orange for himself and sat across from me. Although the whole world seemed quiet to me, I could feel a tangible amount of awkward in the air around us.

"Y'know, you can still talk to me..." I said. He looked up in surprise, and I could see bags under his eyes. I assumed he'd stayed up late the night before, possibly working on homework, or, what I thought was more likely, worrying about me. His expression showed that I'd guessed correctly.

"_You can still hear awkward silences?"_ he enunciated carefully. I nodded, with a halfhearted shrug.

"It's intuitive, I think. But is there something.. on your mind?" He nodded slowly, pensively. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but didn't form any words. Instead, he got up and rummaged through the drawers, returning with a pencil and an old homework assignment. He wrote on the back of it, before pushing it towards me.

_I know you won't agree, but I really think you should switch schools- To a special school. I have some money saved up. It probably won't be enough, but it might help. I know you'll say you don't want to, but are you really learning anything at school now?_

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**E/N: Hehehe sorry, I did it again! Cliff hanger ending ftw.. XD Aren't I mean.. but if it keeps you guys reading, then it means I'm still pretty good, huh? B) Anyways, I hope you enjoyed that chapter.. I know I shed some tears.. x'(**

A/N: So.. Anyways.. Sorry my editor is really weird. :P

**E/N: I am not! **

A/N: Either way, this story is coming along pretty well-

**E/N: You know it's all because of my delicious editing. B) **

A/N: Delicious?

**E/N: Yes.**

A/N: Okay then.. Anyways, PLEASE REVIEW~~ Reviews are author god food. ^_^

PS A/N- Yeah, my editor writes these author notes sometimes... This kind of thing is usually the result... :P


	5. The Burglary of the Bow

A/N- It's been a while... Well, like a week, but still. (I update way too much XD) Anyways, enjoy this chapter~

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_He got up and rummaged through the drawers, returning with a pencil and an old homework assignment. He wrote on the back of it, before pushing it towards me._

I know you won't agree, but I really think you should switch schools- To a special school. I have some money saved up. It probably won't be enough, but it might help. I know you'll say you don't want to, but are you really learning anything at school now?

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I looked up and shook my head defiantly.

"No." the monosyllable escaped my lips, and I started talking, unsure what I was really saying. "No, no, no. You can't use the money you earned and saved up, not all on me. That would be way too expensive. Not gonna happen, okay? I know I'm not doing too well now, but... Len can help me, or you can, too. But I'm not switching schools because of this. Not now, at least." Rei looked confused. I realized I'd been talking pretty quickly, and if my voice was deteriorating as much as I thought it was, I probably hadn't made much sense. "No..."

*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*

A little while later, they were on their way to school. Rei spent most of the walk lost in thought, before abruptly facing me and saying,

_"... Won't make you switch... Work hard... Keep secret... Rest of the year?" _I only caught some of what he said, even though I could tell he was trying to enunciate carefully so I could read his lips. I assumed he'd said, 'I won't make you switch schools' (Yay!) 'As long as you work hard and can keep it a secret for the rest of the year.' (Well, I've been trying to. Shouldn't be too hard.) I smiled and nodded to show I had understood.

"Rei, are you mad at me?" I could think of a lot of reasons he could be, but apparently he couldn't.

"_No... Why?"_ I shrugged and looked down, watching my beat-up shoes walk down the sidewalk.

"Well, you always say I can trust you, and I do, but then I kept this a secret. So I thought you might be mad." I couldn't even tell if that made any sense, and looked over at him to see his response. I was slightly taken aback to see him... laughing?

_"Rin... Not mad, just wish you had told... Where did... head come from anyway?"_ The first part was easy enough to understand, but I couldn't make heads or tails of the second sentence. I shook my head to show my lack of comprehension.

"_What happened to your head?"_ He'd rephrased it, and it was much easier to lip-read it hat way. But... I didn't really want to answer the question. Mom was always harsh on both of us, but me especially, and I knew it always tore him up inside to see the injuries that were constantly popping up. So, I chose to take advice from a friend I'd known back before I went deaf. _Deny everything. It's usually easier than the truth._ And so far, that had been proven true.

"I... fell. Into a pole." It was a weak lie, but I hoped it would be satisfactory.

"_Rin, I know... hear, but... your lying is still awful. What... Happened?" _Apparently, that was the one thing that didn't seem likely to change. Everyone else couldn't tell when I was lying, but Rei always could. It was almost creepy at times.

"Oh... Ya know..." I took a deep breath. "Momkindahitmewithabottle, andIgotacutonmyforehead," I said the sentence all at once, hoping I'd talked quickly enough that he wouldn't understand. Again, I failed.

"_Are you okay?"_ I nodded quickly. I was glad the school was in sight by that point, so I could run ahead and not have to answer what he probably wanted to ask. I turned halfway around and waved at him, almost as an afterthought, before hurrying ahead to school.

I was a little early to first period, of course, since I'd have been a bit early even if I hadn't run the last block. I sat at my desk and took out the previous night's half-finished homework, intending to finish it before the teacher came in and collected it. However, I'd only gotten through about two more problems when I felt the presence of someone walking up behind me. I turned halfway around in my chair, and saw the teal-haired girl from the day before standing there, hands on her hips.

_"Oh, now she turns... Like you can't hear me... Idiot."_ I only caught a few words, but a part of me was glad I didn't have to listen to the rest of what she had probably said. "_What happened... head?" _I didn't say anything. As Bambi said, "If you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all," right? Not that this girl was listening to that rule.

"Could you leave me alone? I didn't finish my work and I need to get it done." The girl smirked, but I turned back around so I couldn't see what she said next. I'd only just touched the tip of my pencil to the paper when I felt her pull the bow off the top of my head. The one my dad bought me when I was eight, the one I'd worn nearly every day since. And now it was held in this girl's cruel, harsh grip.

_"Why do you... stupid thing anyway? ...Cheap ...ugly."_ I couldn't help it, I turned around and tried to grab my bow out of her hand, but she reached up to lift it higher, so I reached higher, and leaned over. I felt my chair leaning a little too far...

I picked myself up off the ground. I looked over to see the girl dabbing tissues at her arm. Apparently, when I'd fallen, my nails had left three long gouges on her arm. "Sorry," I smirked. I could tell the rest of the class was laughing, but probably at my clumsiness.

"_Geez... Violent... Just a stupid bow." _It was only then that I noticed she still had my bow clenched tightly in her fist. I was going to take another swipe at it, but just then the teacher walked in.

The rest of the morning passed quickly, with most of my thoughts preoccupied by plans to get my bow back. My bad mood escalated, to the point that some of the plans I came up with included _lovely_ torture and blackmail. How delightful.

Once we were finally released for lunch, I made my way to the bench I always sat at, alone. I hadn't expected that day to be any different, so I was shocked to see Len already sitting there, calmly eating a sandwich as though this was completely normal. Not that I didn't want him to sit with me...

I sat down next to him, and started playing with the hem of my skirt. He waved his hand in front of me, and I looked up at him.

"Hey... How's... been so far?" I shrugged, looking up at the clear blue sky.

"Okay, I guess. Not the best." Len looked at me inquiringly. His eyes moved slightly upward, and I was about to ask what he was staring at when he said.

"_...Wearing a bow yesterday?"_ I nodded. "_What happened...it?"_ I took a deep breath.

"Well... It kind of got taken. There's this girl who sits behind me, and she was taunting me, and she took it. But... It's okay. I'll get it back." I tried to sound upbeat, but I don't think I succeeded since Len looked at me suspiciously.

".._sure you're okay?" _I shrugged. I wasn't, really, but I figured it wasn't a big enough problem to need to ask for help. After all, just because I'm deaf doesn't mean I can't do _anything_ for myself.

*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*

The rest of the day after that passed fairly uneventfully, and I'd just started walking over to the library to meet up with Len when I saw what was undeniably my bow hanging on a tree branch, where anyone walking by would be sure to see it. But who knew I would be coming by here besides Len...?

I pulled the bow from its spot on the branch, and looked at it. There was a lot of dirt on it, so it looked more brownish-grey than white. I was planning on just shoving it into my pocket, but I saw a small note pinned onto it as I was trying to dust it off. I unfolded the paper, and read the words that were written on it in tiny, neat handwriting.

_Rin-_

_I saw Miku with this and I knew it was yours. Sorry, I couldn't clean it off or give it to you myself, but at least you get it back, right?_

_-G.M._

I read the note twice, before I realized what was odd about it. The initials- Who signs their name with just initials, anyway? It was weird... Really weird...

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**E/N: Hmm not a very good place to end the chap, but I needed to end it.. sorry you guys. :/**

A/N- Yeah. What she said. Anyway, I've been getting fat from all of the review-food lately. Thanks you guys :)


	6. A True Home

A/N- Yay, next chapter :3 According to my editor this one is rather boring, but I'll let you guys be the judge of that, I guess :) And it's a bit shorter, too, but I figured it was a good ending point. So, enjoy~!

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I followed behind him as he made his way through the spotless house, and for some reason he looked as though he was embarrassed by how much more wealthy his family was than mine. I didn't say anything, and a moment later I found myself in the kitchen. There was a bowl of fresh fruit on the scrubbed kitchen table, and some half-put-away groceries sat on the counter.

_"Have a seat." _ He said in my direction, and I hesitantly sat down in one of the chairs. A moment later, Len returned with a bowl of pita chips and some humus. He sat them between us, and took one. I followed suit. _Yum..._

"Hey Len, where are your parents? I mean, I don't think they were here yesterday either..." Len smiled, and I think laughed.

"_Work late... Supposed to be... earlier today."_ I glanced around, trying to find a topic of conversation.

"Your house is really nice." I blurted before I could think of anything else to say. Len looked around absently.

"_Really... Thanks... Pretty normal, really." _I shrugged. It was better than my house, at least. Not that I was complaining- my house was where Rei and mom were. "..._Welcome to stop by... you want." _I smiled. Len then looked quickly towards the door, and I gave him a questioning look. He didn't seem to notice, just got up and walked over to the door. He opened it, revealing two men who appeared to be about the same age. Maybe one was a friend from work? But Len hugged both of them, and then it dawned on me- Len had two _gay_ dads.

Well, this was an interesting turn of events. Len turned and gestured for me to come join them, so I hastily swallowed my last bite of chip and made my way over.

"Nice to meet you." I said into what I could tell was a slightly awkward silence. I looked over to Len, who looked decidedly uncomfortable with the situation.

_"Nice to... you too." _Said the one standing on the left, who had startlingly blue hair, and held out his hand. I shook it, and he said, "_I'm Kaito... is Kiyoteru._" I assumed that he meant the brunette man's name was Kiyoteru. Huh... Interesting name. If I'd heard right, at least.

"_Is... wrong with you?_" Asked the man who had been introduced as Kaito. I shrugged, not giving a real answer. I really needed to figure out why that was always so obvious, though...

"_She's deaf, dad._" Len said, and both men looked at me in surprise. This was why I preferred it to just stay a secret. It was so much easier to just try to function on a normal level than to be looked at and treated as though I was lesser, or there was something broken about me.

"_... wondering, but why... here?"_ Kaito asked. I couldn't tell if he had said it harshly or with honest curiosity, so I just stayed quiet, since I couldn't think of a reply that would satisfy both tones.

_"School assigned... new tutor."_ I could feel all three sets of eyes upon me, even though I had looked down after seeing Len's last sentence. I assumed they were talking about me, but I didn't want to look up and see what they were saying. I could fill in the blanks on my own, thank you. I felt a light tap on my shoulder, and looked up to see Len gesturing for me to follow him. I did, an he led the way to his bedroom. I shook my head quickly to keep any normal-hormonal-teenager-but-still-gross implications out of my mind.

"_Sorry about them..." _he said, flopping face-first onto his bed. I sighed and tentatively took a seat on the edge, looking around absently at the familiar scene I'd seen just yesterday.

"No problem." I said, trying to sound cheerful and impervious. "That's how I'd expect most people to react, anyway." I tried to smile, like no words would ever hurt me.

"... _don't have to... a secret, most... will try to help you."_ I had only a vague idea of what he had said, and no idea how to reply. He apparently picked up on this, and enunciated carefully, _"You don't have to worry about keeping it a secret. Most people will try to help you._"I smiled at his words, feeling a little better even if I knew it wasn't true. It's just not human nature. When something is wrong with someone, they get pushed away. Shoved back. Forgotten about. I didn't even try to voice my thoughts, and apparently my silence was concerning. He reached over and patted the top of my head in a way that was a bit awkward but reassuring nonetheless.

"_I'm sure they'll... up to you in a few days._" I assumed (Or, more like, hoped) that the word I missed was 'warm'. I shrugged, fairly sure that they would _not_ just 'warm up to me in a few days'. But, since I wouldn't gain anything by arguing, I simply replied,

"Yeah, I guess so..." Len's eyes moved to the door in a way that I'd gotten used to meaning that somebody had knocked on it. His lips formed the words 'come in' so I assumed I'd guessed correctly. The door opened, and the brown- haired man who had been introduced as Kiyoteru entered. He was talking too quickly for me to catch hardly any of what he said, and I looked at Len for clarification.

"._.. said you're invited... for dinner if... want_." I nodded quickly, before remembering my manners and saying,

"If that's okay, then... Yes, I'd like to." Kiyoteru smiled, and replied,

"_Of course... wouldn't invite if... didn't want you to stay." _His expression was joking, which caught me a bit off-guard since it went against what I'd thought earlier, about how most people couldn't possibly accept me. But Len had apparently accepted me too- or, a better phrase would probably be that he'd taken me under his wing. No matter how it was phrased, Len had accepted my sudden presence in his life much more than I previously though anybody would be able to.

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A/N- I've been slowly updating this less and less... It's been sitting on my computer done for a while now though, I just didn't get around to posting it :P

Also, there's some serious business to discuss. Naty17, an amazing author who writes for the Vocaloid fandom, is having some issues with family things, so you should go and review any one of her absolutely amazing stories and tell her why her mother should let her stay on ffn. Otherwise, her account will be deleted, and losing her stories would be a terrible loss to the whole fandom. So please, REVIEW HER STORIES and tell her why she's awesome. Because she is, and she deserves it :)


	7. Writing is a Way Out

A/N- Sorry it's taken me forever to update! But I swear, you can blame it on Moonflower121! (Or, mostly, at least It was partially my fault too.) Anyways...

This chapter is really short so I guess you can consider it almost and Omake of sorts... That or just a really short chapter. Either way, I'm actually updating! And the next chapter is already done and edited, so you can be sure it'll be up in the next few days :)

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That night, after Len's dads drove me home, I made my way straight up to my room. I pulled on a pair of faded pajamas, and once I was ready for bed (even though it was only about eight thirty) I picked up a habit I'd left behind a long time ago.

I pulled out a battered yellow notebook from my drawer and settled myself at my desk. When I was younger, I always used to write down all of my thoughts in here. It's always been my one secret thing, that nobody ever knew about. Well, that, and the fact that I was deaf.

I guess this was a much more normal thing than my other problem, but it still gave me comfort to look through the pages, and occasionally add a page or two as my childhood progressed. The earliest entry was written on the day I got the notebook, and included a poorly-written poem about how much 'I loved my mommy and daddy'.

The next few were also lighthearted and innocent, and I smiled at how naive I was back then. Slowly, over the next two months, the little notes and poems got more serious. I wrote about how my dad was always gone at the hospital for tests, how he finally stopped coming home...

I still remembered the night he died, actually. It was when I was in fifth grade, and Rei and I were hiding under the covers in his room because the sound of our mom crying was _scary_. It was like the final confirmation that I wouldn't be continuing my silly little poems of rainbows and sunshine.

Then, things got a little better. I didn't write much then, because we were always busy. I missed my dad, but I don't think I really understood at that point that he was dead. He was gone. And he was never coming back.

I ran my fingers over the spots where the paper had warped, from where tears had fallen to the page. I re-read the entry, and the memory came back to me sharply. That night was the first time my mom got really drunk, and I mean really _really_ drunk, and I'd written about how she had thrown a bottle at me that almost hit me in the head.

The entries spread out after that, but were all about basically the same things- school, friends, and normal school stuff mixed together with the scattered abuse that took place at home. I found a page that I'd written out the lyrics to my favorite song on, and at that moment, I could almost hear how the tune sounded, the rhythmic piano and the auto-tuned vocal singing about how people always have to keep rolling on.

I'd forgotten about that song, but reading through the lyrics again after so long reminded me of all of the emotions a song can hold, woven into the words and in the music.

Then, there was the five-page entry from the night I'd lost my hearing. Reading through it, I remembered anew the piercing pain, and the horrid realization that no matter how long I left my wounds to heal, they wouldn't recover and I wouldn't hear again.

I opened up to a new page of the journal, and pressed the pen to the paper. At first I wrote slowly, in an oddly formal style, but slowly I wrote faster and faster until my words and thoughts were blurring together, to the point that even if anybody else read it but me, it wouldn't make any sense whatsoever.

I was so engrossed in my journal entry that I didn't notice Rei had entered my room. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and jumped, higher than the Empire State.. I quickly turned to see Rei standing over me. I hastily shut the notebook, then looked up to see him mouthing words to me.

"_You should... to bed. It's... in the morning."_ I glanced over at my clock to see that it was two in the morning. How did that happen...? "_Are you okay?"_ He asked, and I nodded quickly.

"I'm fine- really. I just lost track of time. I'll go to bed now..." As I stood up, a wave of exhaustion washed over me. I stumbled a bit, and made my way over to my bed. At least it was Friday (or, technically, Saturday morning) so I didn't have to get up early the next day (or technically, just later). Rei gave me a quick hug, before exiting the room, presumably to go back to bed.

I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, and was glad to have a night of peaceful, dreamless sleep.

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A/N- So, short and sweet, right? Oh! And if anybody's interested, my friend Emio Shira and I wrote a Gakupo X Kaito one-shot, called 'Intoxicated Emotion'... Its posted on my account, and you should check it out, guys! :3

And remember... Reviews= Author food. Author food=Happy author. Happy Author= More updates!


	8. Fresh Start

A/N- As promised, here's the next _actual_ chapter. Because the last one didn't exactly count... I didn't get any reviews on it, at least :P

Sorry if this one's a little filler- ish, but I swear next chapter is more exciting...

Enjoy~

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I slept in late that morning, mostly because I knew my mother would probably sleep past noon. Stumbling downstairs, I was surprised to see Rei scrubbing dishes at the sink. Since when did anybody actually wash the dishes in this house...? I mumbled a "Good morning, Rei" before searching through the cupboards for something to eat.

Eventually I found some bagels, and situated myself at the table with my breakfast. Once I finished, I rinsed my plate and put it on the drying rack, since it seemed rude to just throw it in the sink like we both usually did. Rei had moved on to mopping with a mostly-fallen-apart thing that looked more like roadkill than anything else.

"Why're you cleaning?" I asked. Our house was always filthy, which was simply a fact that nobody ever bothered to fix.

_"I just thought... a nice change." _I decided that that didn't seem like such a bad idea, and grabbed an old rag to start wiping down the countertop. Ten minutes later, I'd only managed to get about a square foot even remotely close to being clean; even using soap and a scrub brush, it seemed like we weren't making much headway.

_"...know if you use... like this ...works better."_ He showed me a different angle that got a lot more grime off. The two of us worked on the kitchen until nearly late in the afternoon. Although it was still far from what most people would call clean, it looked considerably better than I had seen it for years. We'd been mostly working in silence, which was fine with me since I couldn't exactly 'listen' and do anything productive at the same time.

When our mom stumbled into the kitchen sometime in the mid-afternoon, I couldn't help but smile at the priceless look on her face. That look, however, quickly faded away.

"_Who did...?" _she still looked taken aback. _"No way... kids couldn't... on your own. ...too useless."_

The insult stung, but Rei and I were both used to it. At least the kitchen was clean, she was at least mostly sober, and she didn't seem likely to start that day's drinking for a while.

And that, for the moment at least, was the best situation I could ask for.

Later, I decided to walk to the park, since I could use some fresh air and time out of the house. I walked at a brisk pace, savoring the crisp air and my good mood. I'd washed most of the dirt out of my bow, which sat perkily in its normal spot atop my head. The day had, certainly, been my best at home in a long time.

I wandered around the park for a while, my thoughts lost somewhere between imagination and reality. I was paying so little attention, in fact, that I walked straight into someone.

"Sorry..." I mumbled, before looking up to see a girl who appeared to be my age standing there, who seemed vaguely familiar. I racked my memories, but couldn't figure out exactly where I knew this green-haired girl from.

"_Don't you... my school_?" Oh, of course! That's where I knew her from- she had had a few classes with me in the past.

"Yeah... Gumi, right?" She nodded energetically.

"_And... Rin, of course!"_ I wanted to question why that was an 'of course', but decided not to. I was probably better known than I thought, if only because of how stupid I seemed to everyone else.

"_So... got your bow?"_ I was taken aback by that. I couldn't hear her tone, obviously, but she seemed to mean it matter-of-factly, like she was commenting on the weather. I nodded, still puzzled.

"How did you know I lost it, though?"

_"The note. Remember? ...my initials..." _The girl didn't talk very slowly- not that I blamed her- so I couldn't catch most of what she was saying; however, I got the general gist of it. _Her initials... hmmm... Well, Gumi's 'G' and... What's her last name? Megpoid? Oh... I'm smart..._

"Right. Um, thanks... For the bow, I mean. I really appreciate it. But where did you find it? Miku-" She looked confused for a moment, before a flash of comprehension crossed her features.

"_...was walking home, saw... with it, and... got it back."_ I figured that was a pretty abbreviated version of the story, but I didn't pry, since it wasn't really that important.

"So, do you um live around here?"

_"Kinda... few blocks... way." _She pointed, which was nice because that way I could actually see where she meant. I nodded to say I understood and replied,

"That's close to where I live... But I'm farther that way..." I gestured as well, and Gumi smiled.

_"... still live pretty close!" _She brought her nail to her mouth and bit it slightly before saying, "_... wanna come over? My... won't mind!"_

_Me? Actually getting invited over to someone's house, as normal friends?_ I nodded quickly. "That's fine, as long as I'm not gone long enough for my brother to start worrying!"

The two of us made our way to her house, which was only a few blocks away. She was talking excitedly about so many things that I couldn't even try to keep track, glancing over every so often to make sure she hadn't asked a question and was waiting for an answer.

Her house was about the size of mine, maybe a little bigger, but it was clearly cleaner and somehow, held more _life. _The bushes were trimmed perfectly, and there were a two bicycles thrown onto the lawn, as though someone had something so exciting to rush inside and say that they didn't possibly have time to put them away.

_"That... probably my brother, Gumiya... a slob."_ I shrugged, and was half-tempted to tell her that if that counted as a mess, she should come over to my house sometime.

It dawned on me then that, even if I didn't know Gumi very well at all, I felt like I could trust her. It was an almost instinctive feeling, like how I knew I could trust Rei with anything and everything. Does she count as a friend? If she does, that brings my grand total to two.

But compared to my complete lack of friends even a week ago, I was thankful that maybe there were people in the world who wouldn't shove me aside or act like I was lesser than everyone else. Even if Gumi still didn't know I was deaf... It was a nice feeling of having a friend, nonetheless.

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A/N- According to my editor, this chapter was boring. Thanks a lot, Moonflower121, there's only so interesting I can make cleaning a kitchen... OTL

Anyway... Yay! Gumi! I wasn't even planning on putting her in right here... it just kinda happened.

So... What did you guys think? Liked it? Hated it? Remember, I still need author food ^^


	9. A Horrific Encounter

A/N- So, this one's got action, as promised! Even though it's not particularly fluffy action... It still counts, right? :)

Well, Moonflower121 just finished editing this literally about two minutes ago. I haven't even actually looked over most of her edits... Oh, well, it's fine. She's an awesome editor, so I don't think she made anything any more provocative than it needed to be.

Enjoy this chapter, okay? I wrote it until about 11 o'clock last night, hence why it's... unlike most of the other chapters. But I guess you'll just have to read it to find out how :3

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Gumi, I soon discovered, talked a _lot._ She also talked fast, so I had little chance of understanding most of what the green- haired girl was saying. Currently, she was either describing a sports match she'd seen, or what she'd done the summer before on a houseboat trip. Or maybe she was managing to talk about both at once...

I ended up simply nodding whenever she glanced at me with an expectant look in her eyes.

_"Geez, not... agree with... side!_" Um, what? I assumed she'd said 'You're not supposed to agree with the other side,' but it was hard to tell.

"Oh. Um... sorry?" I honestly had no idea what she had been talking about, or whose opinion I had just agreed to.

_"Not important... than, I... this big! Seriously! And he..." _I gave up, there was no way I could follow this. And, since Len had reacted so well to the fact that I was deaf, I thought that maybe wouldn't overreact, either. _Where did this confidence come from, anyway?_ I opened my mouth, and interrupted what I'm sure was a _fascinating_ story about boats or maybe sports to say,

"Gumi?" She stopped rambling and looked over at me. "Um, I..."

_"Don't... care about...? Sorry, I... ramble on a lot." _Yeah, so much for my sudden confidence. I was so used to trying to keep my deafness a secret and blend in that actually telling her outright was more difficult than it should have been. She seemed to notice my hesitancy, and her expression softened.

_"... what's wrong? Need a pad... something?" _I had to resist the urge to laugh at that. I supposed that, maybe to a normal person, that would have been a realistic cause for the awkwardness. However, that wasn't exactly it in this case.

"Um, well, I..." _Nope. Can't do it. Even though I trust her, and feel like she could be a really good friend, I just met her, and still feel like I shouldn't trust people so easily. _"...never mind."

"_You sure?"_ I nodded, and tried to put a genuine-looking smile on my face.

"It's okay. Really." Just then, Gumi paused as though she were listening to something before replying with,

_"Coming, mom!"_ and with that, she gestured for me to follow her out of her room. I did, and made sure to stand next to her so that I could at least partially read her lips. "_... going shopping, want... drop you off?" _I shook my head.

"It's okay, I'll... I'll walk." Even though the sky was starting to show the slightest tinge of twilight, and it was probably about a mile to my house, I figured that was better than troubling them to have to go out of their way and drop me off. Anyway, I could probably use the exercise.

_"You sure?"_ I nodded again, and she didn't question me any more. She led the way back to the front door, where her mother was waiting. There was a brief exchange of "Oh, I didn't realize you had a friend over!" and a quick introduction before I assured them that I knew my way home and started walking home.

There were two ways of getting home that I could think of- either going back the way I came, or using a couple of rather shifty side streets that Rei always told me to avoid.

As it turns out, the shifty streets probably would've safer. I had decided to just take my original route in reverse, first making my way to the park, once I was there, I noticed that there were a couple of high school drop outs that were smoking. (They probably did drugs as well, although I couldn't tell from where I was). I decided to just walk by them quickly, since they were spread out over the entire park.

I'd made my way about halfway through the playground a couple of them were sitting on when I chanced a glance over in their direction. They were all staring at me with hateful glares, and one's mouth was moving, so I assumed he was talking to me. (Or, yelling would probably be a better way of describing it, really)

_"Hey... C'mere..."_ continued on with a chain of swear words, most of worse were far worse than what my mom used even when she was almost too drunk to stand up straight.

I decided then that they weren't going to simply ignore me, no matter how much I wanted them to, and picked up my pace. I suddenly felt an arm grab my wrist. It pulled me in close and another arm wrapped around my waist, and the hand on my wrist slid up my shirt.

That whole moment I was frozen, trying to process what was possibly happening. Then I _screamed_, I screamed, and I screamed, until my throat burned to badly that just breathing hurt. The man didn't let me go, although he did freeze for a moment. I twisted and tried to escape, all the while screaming, hoping it would be loud enough for someone, anyone, to hear.

I had almost managed to wrench myself free of his grip when another one of his friends came over and twisted my arms behind my back. I was terrified, and panicking. I couldn't move, and I couldn't breathe. They were going to do unspeakable things to me I just knew it, and no matter how hard I fought, I was going to lose.

My breath caught in my throat as the man's hand slid underneath my bra, looking for the melons that clearly weren't there. My efforts then renewed, and I tried to free myself from his grip, but he only groped me harder. My survival instincts kicked in, and I made a desperate kick behind me that clearly didn't cause him any pain, and only managed to hit his thigh.

Just as I had nearly given up all hope of escaping unscathed, I saw two figures running in our direction. As they got closer, I recognized them as Len and Rei. Rei never stopped running, and punched the man holding me with so much force that the he fell back onto the cement, releasing me instantly.

Len caught me before I hit the ground.

Rei was yelling at them, screaming at them to never touch me again. But I wasn't really aware of that- all I knew was that I was safe in my friend's arms, that they had saved me, that it was going to be okay...

My knees had given out at some point, and I was leaning heavily on Len, who was half-supporting and half- embracing me. I was both numbly unaware of a few things and yet I was aware of everything- the perfect color of the sky, rapidly fading to purple. Len's arms around me. And that man's hands... I shivered at the thought of what they had almost done, what they wanted to do, what they would have done if Rei and Len hadn't shown up when they did.

I felt a light breeze near my ear, and could tell somehow that Len was whispering, talking to me, even though he knew I wouldn't hear him.

Rei stormed over, clearly still furious, but his eyes softened as he looked me over, my weak tired body shivering from the cold. He asked, slowly and carefully,

"_Are you okay, Rin? They didn't hurt you, did they?" _I shook my head quickly, not trusting any words I might form. _"Where... you? Why were... here?" _he started talking faster, and I missed a few words, although the meaning was still clear.

"I met up with a friend, and I went to her house for a little while. Then I was walking home..." I was still leaning on Len, and the three of us started walking away from the park, in the direction of our house. Every few seconds, Rei would glance back to give them yet another dirty look, even when they were far beyond our sight.

Even though the residual terror still lingered, and my adrenaline was far from gone, I felt a reassuring sense of security. Even though I had been in a dangerous situation, they had saved me. Nothing permanently bad had happened. It was all going to be okay.

...or so I hoped.

**E/N: Hey guise! I hoped you liked this chapter! I know it was a little risqué in some parts.. but still, at least it was action! B) **

**Anyways, Lizzy is busy reading my book.. so I'm updating for her! :D **

**Remember, reviews are like miracle men. You rush them and you get rotten miracles. **

**...Princess Bride reference. ;)**

**INCONCEIVABLE.**


	10. My Two Favorite People

A/N- Sorry this took so long! But at least I'm uploading now, right? Eheh...

Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter, even though it's a little on the short side. The next one's longer, don't worry.

And, as always, hope you enjoy~

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We were on the floor of Big Brother's bedroom. I was still in complete shock at his and Len's heroic rescue a few hours earlier when they saved me from the creepers at the park.

"How did you guys even know where to find me? And why was Len with you? I mean not that I minded him being there. I'm pretty glad actually, but still! Why..." I was rambling, I knew, but I was still waiting for the shock of terror from the night's events to wear off.

Rei held up a finger, signaling for me to wait a minute, then reached over to his desk to grab notebook and a pen.

I waited patiently as he recounted the night's events on the paper, and a few minutes later he shoved the notebook in my direction.

'_You said you were just going to go for a walk, but it was starting to get late. Then, I had this feeling that something was wrong. When Len came to call, and I realized you weren't with him, we decided to look for you. We retraced your steps, arriving at the park first, and thank God we did, because I don't even want to think about what would have happened.'_

I read his scrawling handwriting quickly, then looked up to meet his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Rei... I just lost track of time, and..."

"_It's okay, Rin...make sure...never happens again."_ I nodded quickly, absolutely sure that I would _never_ be stupid enough to get myself into that kind of situation again.

"Thank you..." I said while looking at Rei, although I hoped it was clear that I was thanking both of them. Apparently it was, because Len reached over to embrace me tightly, and I flung my arms around him, holding into him tightly yet somehow feeling weak at the same time, relaxing into the warmth of his body.

Although any other time the contact would have been considered awkward or uncomfortable, at that moment I knew he could tell it was alright, and that what I really needed just then was someone to reassure me that everything would be okay.

I clung to him tightly for a while, managing to calm myself down a bit from the terrifying encounter in the night. I sighed deeply, and finally brought myself to get up. I looked at him and he asked,

"_Rin...really sure...okay?" _I nodded, knowing I only was this calmed now because of these two amazing men before me.

We talked about nothing important for a while, both of them clearly trying to get my mind off of what had happened. I had to admit it was working, because the next thing I knew, Rei was getting up and saying he was going to drive Len home, since it was getting late, again.

*•.•*•.•*•.•*

I returned to my room, and got ready for bed quickly. Rei popped in to let me know he was home, and I was just about to turn out the lights when I heard the front door crash open. I froze, and listened as what could only be my mother made its way up the stairs, crashing into every possible thing before stopping for a moment outside my bedroom door.

My pulse was racing in my ears, and I froze in shock when suddenly, the door burst open, and I could feel the sheer force of it reverberating through the walls and floor.

I wheeled around quickly, to see my mother leaning heavily against the doorway with a half-finished bottle of booze in her hands.

"H-hey, mom..." I prayed that she would just stumble down the hallway and collapse in her room, but I somehow doubted that was going to happen. She babbled on about something I couldn't make heads or tails of for a while, before taking a few staggering steps forward and pulling back a fist.

"REI!" I yelled, trying to dodge her and somehow managing to succeed. The miss threw her off-balance for a moment, but I wasn't able to avoid it when she came at me agin, with much more force and determination. Her fist crashed into my eye so hard I saw stars dancing in my vision, and I threw myself not-so-gracefully into the nearest corner, curling into a defensive position with one hand over my eye.

Rei unfroze from this stance in the hall and raced in. He seemed to absorb the whole scene in an instant. Shoving my mother aside rather roughly and grabbing my wrist, he pulled me out of my room, down the hall, and into his own.

"_You okay?_" I shrugged, pulling my hand away from my eye. I could already feel it starting to swell up, and he winced at the sight of it. "_Want ice for it?"_ I nodded slightly, feeling my eye throb from the movement. Rei ventured out to get ice, and I cursed the fact that I couldn't tell if mom was right outside the door, or had stumbled off somewhere else.

Once Rei returned, he offered to let me stay in his room, since the lock on his door actually functioned, unlike the long-broken one on my own. He handed me the ice pack, which I pressed gratefully to my eye, then walked over to his closet and pulled out a small stack of extra blankets and a musty pillow from a shelf in the back of his closet.

I spread them out on the floor, since although we were always close, it would have been awkward to attempt sharing the small twin bed. I drifted off to sleep soon after, trying to ignore the thick throbbing in my right eye.

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A/N- *sigh* rin, I just can't have a chapter where you don't get hurt, can I? Sorry...

Anyway, hope you liked it, and as always, reviews are author food! :)


	11. Light at the end of the tunnel?

A/N- I was trying to upload earlier, but then... stuff. I got it back from moonflower121 (yay!) And then I couldn't upload it because I had too many documents in the doc manager (not-so-yay) But at least I'm updating now, right~? ^^

I'm really hoping the next update will be sooner... *Sigh*

Hope you guys like this chapter :)

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Rei woke me up early from his bedroom floor the next morning, and it took me a moment to register that it was Monday, and I had to get up for school. I returned to my room to get clean clothes, before heading to the bathroom to take a shower. The bathroom was, without a doubt, the worst part of the house, so I showered as quickly as I could to escape the always-lingering mildew smell. Twenty minutes later I was ready to go, my still-soaked hair pulled rather messily off my face.

Rei and I walked to school without much conversation, and he gave me a quick hug before heading to the other end of the building where his first class was.

As I headed off to my own first period, trying to make my way through the halls without running into anyone, I had actually almost succeeded when I felt someone's hand grab my shoulder.

I was suddenly reminded of the night before, in the dimly-lit park, with _that man_'s tainted hands sliding over me.

I wheeled around suppressing a scream, only to see Gumi standing there, her hand half-raised in a faltering wave and an expression of confusion on her face.

"S-sorry..." I forced myself to relax, and put a fake-feeling smile on my face.

"..._you okay?"_ I nodded quickly, remembering suddenly the discolored bruise on my face. "_What happened... eye?"_ I brought up one of my hands to lightly brush against it, trying to think of an excuse.

"I, uh, woke up in the middle of the night and I was going to the bathroom, and I ran into a doorframe." It was a weak lie at best, but I'd become fluent enough at it that I probably could've persuaded someone the sky was green if I wanted to.

Gumi walked me the rest of the way to class, since we had the same first period, and I took my seat without anything else going wrong.

The teal-haired girl (who had taken my bow) was sitting across the room, and glared at me when I chanced a glance in her direction, but she didn't come over to where I was sitting. For this I was thankful.

The teacher entered the room soon after that, and I tried harder than usual to pay attention, although I still didn't exactly get most of what she said. I figured I could just get help from Len later- he was my tutor, after all, even though it didn't feel like it most of the time.

The rest of the school day passed fairly quickly, although I was constantly on edge, and jumped every time someone even brushed my backpack in the halls.

Soon (but somehow not soon enough) the school day was over, and I was waiting in front of the school for my two favorite people. I saw Len first, mostly because he made sure to walk up from in front of me so I would be sure to see him. Rei, however, snuck up behind me in what I assumed was supposed to be a joking manner and put his hands over my eyes.

This, needless to say, didn't have to effect he wanted it to.

I turned around and blindly threw a punch, before I even recognized that it was my brother, not anyone threatening, and there was no way there would be a repeat of the night before.

He recoiled from my fist, an unreadable expression on his face and one hand loosely over his stomach where my hand had made contact.

"_Sorry...forgot, I'm really...Rin."_ It took me a moment to fill in the odd blanks for words I had missed.

"It's okay," I said, trying to relax and put a smile on my face, even though it was mind of tough. "It's okay, you just startled me, Rei." I took a deep breath, and repeated what I had been trying to tell myself over and over for the past 24 hours. Even if I'd been in complete terror the night before, I had to try to get over it, and stop jumping every time anyone touched me.

Len announced he was ready to come over to our house and tutor now, so we headed off home. I noticed that throughout the duration of the walk, they were both very careful not to brush against me. I glanced over a couple of times to see that they were talking, presumably about me, but I didn't try to follow the conversation.

I thought back to my classes that day, trying to mentally figure out how much homework I would have to do once we got home. I decided I'd need Len's help with at least english, math, and history- and probably science, too. Hopefully, it wouldn't take too long, because I had been vaguely hoping to continue Rei and I's task of cleaning the house.

We reached the house soon after that, and Rei and I were both glad to see that Mom wasn't home, since she still hadn't met Len, and it was much more convenient to have things stay that way.

It took only a few minutes for Rei to head up to his room, and Len and I to situate ourselves at the nearly-spotless kitchen table. He got out some sheets of handwritten notes, as well as a textbook and a notebook that was presumably filled with more notes and examples from class.

We'd only been working for a few minutes on history (I still had no idea what 'apartheid in Africa' was, and we had had a test on it last Wendsday) when Len gave me a look that was somewhere between confusion and concern.

"What is it?" I asked, wondering if he'd heard something. However, he didn't have time to answer before my mother stumbled into the kitchen, looking almost normal for the first time in a long time. Had she gone to the salon?

"_Rin! Who's this?"_ She gestured to Len as though he had somehow offended her, just by being there.

"He's Len. My tutor..." I was worried that she would strike out at him or something, but all that changed was an expression of confusion on her face.

"_Didn't know... had one. I don't... to pay, do I?!" _ she snapped. OOO I nervously shook my head, and with that, she gave him one last glare before turning on her heel and stalking upstairs.

"_She didn't seem... bad as you said... is."_ Len said, clearly perplexed.

"That wasn't... how she normally is." I tried to explain how bizarre the whole thing had been, but no sufficient words came to mind. He seemed to understand that something could have been odd about it, but didn't ask me about it again.

Len and I worked until Rei came downstairs to start cooking dinner. He pulled out some pasta, then started rummaging through the fridge and cupboards for something to serve with it.

I watched with detached disinterest, this lack of food being nothing new, but Len seemed thoroughly shocked.

_"...don't have much... dinner?"_ I shrugged, brushing it off. "There's only three of us, when mom's home, so we don't really need much..." Even to me, it seemed like an excuse. Len shook his head, seeing through my bluff.

"_And... never have lunch... school."_ Rei turned away from the stove, wiping his hands on a towel.

"_It's fine, Len... we get by... we're fine."_ Len seemed to doubt it, but decided to let it go and turned back to the geography homework.

After all, we were fine. Maybe Rei and I had harder lives than other people our age, but we managed to cope with it just fine. We'd had plenty of time to get used to it, after all. Maybe I had wished on more than one occasion that my life was a bit easier, or more average at least. But, living in our kind of situation, I'd also learned to appreciate what you have, because you never know when it will disappear.

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A/N- So, what did you think? I'm trying to make my chapters longer, because they're usually really short, but the chapters just kinda magically end around 1,000 words. I'm trying, though!

Oh, yeah! And I added a cover to this story! I only realized after I made it that Rin is listening to an iPod in the picture... Even though she's deaf... Yeah, I'm smart :/

Anyway, remember to give me some author food on your way out? It's fat-free and low calorie! Or something... XD Well, you can give me either a review, or you can give me chocolate. I prefer milk chocolate, but dark is fine too... *Insert chocolate rant about the amazingness of chocolate*

Anyway... author food... yeah. See you guys next chapter~


	12. A Bleak Outlook

A/N- So... I kinda vanished for... a long time. Sorry 'bout that. I'm back though~! ^^ And I just realized, this story has 40 reviews now. Thanks so much, guys~ Seriously, it means a lot to know you guys like this so much!

And also, to anyone who cares, the main plot arc should be coming up in the next few chapters- so, I'm not sure how much longer this is going to be but probably not more than 5 or 6 more chapters ^^

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Len, Gumi, and I were sitting under the shade of a large tree at school, with the branches hung over so everything was covered in different, shifting shades of green. I had invited Gumi to sit with us for lunch, and was glad to see that she and Len were getting along well.

I mostly sat in silence and let them talk, since I was having a bit of a hard time following the conversation, but I was occupying myself by trying to imagine how their voices would sound, if I could hear them. Len's would be a little higher than someone our age's would normally be, maybe, but seemed like it could be smooth and warm, too.

Gumi's would be deeper, maybe nasally sounding? I wracked my thoughts, trying to remember how a 'nasally' voice would sound. The word seemed like it would fit with the girl's appearance, but it shocked me more than a little that I came up completely blank for how it would actually sound. I stared up through the branches above me, the colors shifting from light to dark as a breeze played through them, and tried to remember.

_Hmm... It's like the sound of a stuffy nose, right? But... that doesn't seem right...How would a stuffy nose sound, anyway?_ I managed to occupy myself for quite a while with that thought, and was disappointed when I had only succeeded in confusing myself even further than before. After a while, a hand on my shoulder startled me out of my thoughts, and I turned my attention back to Len and Gumi.

Gumi was about to say something, but Len put up a hand to signal for her to wait. Then, he pulled a piece of paper out of his backpack, as well as a pencil and began writing something. This routine was quickly developing between us, that whenever Len had something really important to tell me he would write it down, to make sure I didn't miss anything crucial.

He handed the paper to me, and I skimmed it quickly. '_Gumi said that some of her parents' friends are audiologists (ear doctors) and she was telling me that maybe they could get you an appointment, and see if maybe it would be possible to fix your hearing. Would you want to talk to them?'_

Wait... there was a chance, that they could actually do that...? I nodded my head quickly, a smile spreading across my face. "Of course, if that wouldn't be to much trouble- I'd like to see if they can fix it." Gumi smiled, and reached over to poke my arm.

"_Why didn't... tell me... deaf before?" _It took me a moment to realize what she meant- I had never outright told her about my lack of hearing, after all. I assumed that Len had told her, or she was just more observant than I initially thought and had figured it out herself somehow. Either way, it was undeniably easier with her knowing than trying to keep it from her.

"No reason, really..." I shrugged, and Gumi thankfully brushed it off without any further inquiry. That was something I appreciated about her- if I didn't want to tell her something, she didn't pressure me to say it. Gumi turned to tell Len something, and I could make out was that she was going to talk to her parents' friends and figure out if they would be willing to see me.

The bell for the end of lunch rang soon after that (I knew because I could see all of the scattered groups of students get up and start heading towards the building.) The rest of the afternoon's classes went smoothly, but with me paying much less attention than usual since I was so lost in thought.

What would it be like, if the people Gumi knew really could fix my hearing? I hadn't been all that long without it, only a few months, but I longed desperately to have it back- I may not show it much around others, but it _does_ hurt to be so different and separated from everyone else, even if I'm still living and functioning alongside them.

By the time the school day was over, I had come to terms with the fact that no matter how much I wanted the problem to be quickly and easily solved, that might not be the case. I could only hope and pray that it would be something simple, because the thought of living the entire rest of my life as I was then was a terrifying notion.

When I walked out of the front of the school building, I saw that Gumi was waiting there, as well as a pink-haired girl I had seen around school a few times before but didn't know personally. Since I didn't see Len or Rei nearby yet, I decided to wait with them.

"_Hey, Rin!_" Gumi exclaimed, and I waved in reply. _"This... Luka. My parents'..." _I missed most of it, so I just nodded dumbly.

Gumi said something to Luka quickly, and the pink-haired girl nodded energetically. I was entirely clueless as to what they were talking about, and apparently Gumi caught on quickly enough, and copying what she had seen Len do earlier, she wrote in her usual girlish handwriting, '_Luka's parents are friends with mine. They're the ones that I thought might be able to help you'_

I nodded in recognition, but before any of us had a chance to say anything else, I saw Len and Rei waiting to walk home. Luka gave me her phone number, and it was only after I had found Len and Rei and we had begun to walk home that I realized one of them would have to speak on the phone to Luka's parents for me, as I couldn't read their lips through the phone.

Len and I spent most of the walk home filling Rei in on the possibility of me getting my hearing back, and although he seemed a bit hesitant at the idea that it would undoubtedly cost a lot of money, he agreed that is was worth at least going to see if it might really be possible.

Len came over to our house again, and the three of us managed to slip upstairs and into my room without catching mom's attention. I handed Rei the scrap of paper with the phone number, and waited with bated breath as he dialed it into his phone.

_"Hello? Is... Luka... audiologists? Heard... help my sister..." _I could hardly make out any of what he was saying, as he was speaking at a normal speed and not being careful to slow down or enunciate so that I could understand him. He stopped speaking for a moment, and I assumed the person on the other line was saying something. I could feel my heart rate increasing with every second that passed, and by the time Rei hung up the phone only a few minutes later, I felt as though I would explode from suspense.

"_... you want the long... short version?"_ I tilted my head to one side slightly, before saying a moment later,

"Short."

"_They said... see you next the long version?"_ I shrugged, deciding that if there was more to the story than that I should probably hear it. Or... read it, whichever. Rei typed frantically onto his phone for a minute, before handing it to me to read.

'_So, they said they can see you next week, but they also said that with how you initially lost your hearing, they're not sure if they'll be able to do much. But they'll try, don't worry!" _I skimmed the text quickly, nodding before handing back his phone. The little bubble of hope that had existed in my chest was rapidly deflating- Even if it wasn't a definite 'no', it was still depressing to hear that instead of a more positive reply.

"_Don't worry... Sure it'll be fine." _Len said, reaching over to pat my head in a softly reassuring way. Even though a part of me knew he was right, my positive mood from earlier that day was still shattered, no matter how irrational it was.

Now all there was to do was wait- wait, and find out if I would ever have a chance of living a normal life again.

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A/N- Well, wasn't that cheerful? XD I hope you guys enjoyed it, though- and as always, reviews are much appreciated, even though I probably don't deserve it after being gone for so long! ^^


	13. Still a Chance

A/N- And now, the chapter you've all been waiting for~ (Well, maybe...)

This was really hard to write because I really know nothing about audiology or if what happened to Rin really could make a person deaf or how they would go about fixing it or any of that... So if anything's wrong, please let me know! Help would be appreciated~!

* * *

I sat in a stiff, rather uncomfortable chair in the audiologist's waiting room, anxiously awaiting my appointment. Rei hadn't been able to come with me because of work, but Len had accompanied me instead. He sat in a chair to my left, and his hand was resting reassuringly over mine, holding onto it gently but firmly.

He let go of my hand a moment later, tapping my arm gently. I looked up, and was shocked to see a white- coated nurse standing there. Usually I could tell when someone was walking up to me, but I had been so lost in thought and distracted that I hadn't even noticed this time.

After speaking to Len for a few moments, she turned to face me and began moving her hands rapidly in what I vaguely recognized as sign language.

"I don't know sign language, sorry..." I said, and the midnight-black haired woman didn't seem taken aback in the slightest. I could tell just from her appearance that this must be Luka's mother- besides hair color, their facial expressions and structures were exactly alike. Even though I had only met Luka once and known this woman for not even a minute, I could tell her daughter must be almost an exact cookie-cutter copy of her.

Luka's mother pulled a notepad out of her pocket and began writing, and I recognized that she was using Len's trick of writing down what I needed to know so that I could read it.

The woman handed me the paper a moment later, and I read, '_It's nice to meet you, Rin- I've heard a lot about you from Luka and Gumi. My name is Mizki- I'm a nurse here. Please come with me, and I can show you to the examination room._' I nodded and stood up, following behind the woman as she led the way through a door and down a hallway. I was immensely relieved that Len followed as well, although I was a bit disappointed that he was no longer holding onto my hand.

The examination room was larger than I had expected, and it was filled with a lot of complicated-looking machines and medical gadgets tat I couldn't even begin to _imagine _the purpose of. I sat down where the nurse told me to on the examination table, and looked to her for further instructions.

"_Can you... me?"_ she asked, and I shook my head. "_How... now?_" I assumed she must have raised her voice, but I shook my head yet again. She wrote something down, but this time on her sheet of medical notes and not on the notepad for me to read.\

She then picked up a few metal tools that seemed like something you would find used in a dentist's office or maybe for surgery, and I shied away instinctively. Mizki noticed this, and reached for the notepad to write something else down. '_I need to look at your ears to troubleshoot what the problem is. Don't worry, I won't poke you as long as you don't move.'_ I nodded, and forced myself to stay still as a statue when she picked up the tool again.

The nurse poked and prodded at my ear for a few minutes, but she kept her word and didn't poke me even once. After writing more notes on her sheet, she flipped to a new page in her notebook and wrote, '_Your left ear has a lot of exterior scarring, but seems like the interior is mostly intact. That should be relatively easy and painless to fix, as long as there aren't any other complications I can't see. The right one, I'm very sorry to say, may be damaged beyond repair.'_ I shook my head, re-reading the words again to make sure that I had read them correctly.

"Damaged beyond repair?" the choked-up feeling in my throat made me think that my voice was probably wavering pathetically. "Oh..." Even though I had known this was a possibility, and getting even half of my hearing back would be better than how it was now, I was still crestfallen that complete recovery would be near-impossible.

The nurse left a minute after that, after saying that she was going to find the doctor in order to verify her claims. Once she closed the door behind her, the atmosphere in the room grew heavier. Len stood up from his chair in the corner and did something that was both surprising, and completely appropriate considering the circumstances- he pulled me into a tight hug, which was firm but not suffocating. After the news I had just been told, I found the presence of his arms around me to be extremely comforting.

I gasped as I felt his breath tickle against my ear, in the same way it had when I had been attacked in the park- he was talking to me, whispering or yelling it was impossible to tell, and despite the helpless feeling it gave me to have no idea what he was saying, I sighed in deep contentment. In that moment, it seemed that even if I could never get any of my hearing repaired at all, I wouldn't mind so long as I could stat here in Len's warm embrace.

He finally pulled away a minute later, and it took me a moment to realize that the doctor had entered the room. Instead of scrubs like the nurse had worn, this man had a button-down shirt and tie under his lab coat. He shook my hand and Len's, and even though I couldn't hear him I could tell that he seemed much more casual and familiar than the nurse had.

Upon remembering that I couldn't hear a thing he was saying, he doctor pulled out a notepad similar to the nurse's and wrote, in the sloppy kind of writing that was to be expected of a doctor, '_Hello Rin, I'm Doctor Yuuma. Mizki already filled me in on what she thought, but I'd like to take a look as well before we figure out what the best plan of action would be. Okay?'_ I nodded; there was even something about the way the man wrote that just made him seem casual and likable. The powder-pink hair on his head made me realize that this was Luka's father, and I had to admit that it was easy to see why him and the black-haired nurse would work well as a couple.

The man- Yuuma- picked up a light and another sharp metal tool, and poked around both of my ears in much the same way the nurse had, although he took much longer to do so. Once he had completed a thorough observation, he picked back up the notepad and wrote, '_I agree with what Mizki wrote that your left will be easier to fix than the right- but don't worry, because I think there's about a 35% chance that I'll be able to fix the right one as well.'_ I nodded, knowing that although the chances weren't all that great, it was still much better than the near-zero the nurse had predicted.

"Thank you..." I said, and the pink-haired man smiled.

"_No problem, Rin!"_ then, a moment later, he turned to Len and began talking with him. I couldn't make out much, only something about a next appointment and x-rays. I decided that it wasn't worth trying to follow their conversation as Len would inevitably tell me about it later, and looked around the room aimlessly until I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up.

"_You ready... go?" _Len asked, and I nodded, standing quickly and thanking the doctor again before following Len back through the waiting room and outside.

Looking up at the slightly overcast, late-afternoon sky, I wondered what I would be able to hear right now if I could. The cars passing by on the road, the birds across the parking lot squawking as they fought over a french fry, the wind and the air and Len's voice...

_At least there's a chance I'll get it all back, _I thought as I followed Len to the bus stop. _At least there's a chance... _

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A/N- I used Yuuma in something~! (Seriously... He's awesome, but I don't think I've ever actually put him in a story XP) Hope you guys enjoyed this, and as always... Reviews are author food, don't make me starve~~


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